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Dev Guide

Create Visual Builder content from a blueprint

Create and customize Optimizely Visual Builder experiences with blueprints. Add, rename, reorder, and remove sections, rows, columns, and elements.

Blueprints let you start with a predefined layout so you can build pages faster and maintain consistent design across your site. Select a blueprint when creating a page to get a preconfigured outline that you customize for your needs.

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Note

Create experiences in any part of the page tree, but only the Mosey Bank example branch has a configured preview in the sample site. Create your experience under that structure. To create, find, rename, or delete a blueprint, see Manage blueprints.

  1. Go to Root > More (...) > Create Page in the page tree.

    Screenshot of the page tree context menu with the Create Page option where editors create a new page from a blueprint

    The Create Page window displays with saved blueprints.

  2. Enter a Name for the experience and then select one of the available blueprints. Filter blueprints by name, type, and layout to find the blueprint you want.

    Screenshot of the Create Page dialog with the name field and available blueprints where editors select a blueprint for the new page
  3. Click Create.

Visual Builder displays the new page with the blueprint you selected, starting with the same outline, which you can customize by changing section names, reordering sections, and so on.

Screenshot of Visual Builder displaying a new page created from a blueprint with the outline on the left and the preview on the right

The left side displays the page tree and outline; the right side displays the preview. You can select desktop (shown), tablet, or mobile views. See Preview Visual Builder content for more information.

Rename a section

  1. Select the section you want to rename in the outline.

    Screenshot of a section selected in the outline where editors choose a section to rename
  2. Click the name or select More (...) > Rename and enter another name.

    Screenshot of the More menu with the Rename option and the editable section name field where editors rename a section

Add a section

  1. Click Add Section (+) > Add Section in the outline.

    Screenshot of the Add Section button in the outline where editors add a new section to the experience

    The Add Section window displays.

  2. Select Blank Section to create one from scratch, or select a blueprint to use a section that is already defined for you.

  3. Click Add Section.

    Screenshot of the Add Section dialog with Blank Section and blueprint options where editors select a section type to add

    The section is added to the bottom of the outline. Elements within an outline are collapsed by default. You can click to expand one element at a time.

Reorder sections, rows, columns, and elements

Drag and drop a section to reorder it. Reorder rows, columns, and elements to customize your experience. Visual Builder numbers rows and columns. The result displays in the Preview pane when you reorder them.

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Note

You cannot drag an element from one column to another.

Screenshot of the outline showing drag-and-drop reordering of sections, rows, columns, and elements where editors customize the layout order

Remove a section

  1. Select the section that you want to remove from the outline.

  2. Click More (...) > Remove.

    Screenshot of the More menu with the Remove option on a section where editors remove a section from the experience
  3. Click Remove Section to confirm.

    Confirm Remove Section

Copy and paste a row or column

Copy a row or a column within a section by clicking More (...) > Copy for the row or column you want to copy. Then select More (...) > Paste on the row or column where you want to paste.

Screenshot of the More menu with the Copy option on a row where editors copy a row for pasting elsewhere in the section

Paste rows under other rows only. If you copy a row, then click More (...) on a column, the paste option is not clickable.

Unlike rows, you can paste columns under rows or columns. If you copy a column, then click More (...) > Paste on a row, the Visual Builder adds the column to the bottom of that row's hierarchy.

Screenshot of the More menu with the Paste option on a row where editors paste a copied column into a row hierarchy

Drag and drop to reorder the pasted column, or select More (...) > Paste directly on the column where you want to paste. Visual Builder adds the column directly below that column instead of at the bottom of the entire row hierarchy.

Screenshot of the More menu with the Paste option on a column where editors paste a copied column directly below the selected column

Validation errors

The total number of validation errors displays next to each section that has required fields that you have not completed. You can go to the outline within a section to view the breakdown of validation errors on each row, column, and element within that section.

Edit section properties

Edit the properties for a section directly in Visual Builder to control layout and display settings.

  1. Select a section from the outline.

  2. Click Properties.

    Screenshot of the Properties button on a selected section where editors access section property settings
  3. Edit the section's properties as desired.

    Screenshot of the section properties panel with editable layout and display fields where editors configure section settings

For information about customizing the elements of your experience, see Elements in Visual Builder and Select Visual Builder styles.